A new Jdrama season has just started! You can check out the new compiled list of the winter drama line up.

Nakatani Miki and Mizukawa Asami face off in Ghost Writer, Shibasaki Kou takes on her first leading role in Marumaru Tsuma, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi stars in the Japanese remake of hit Korean drama, “Jjeonui Jeonjaeng” (War of Money), Ikuta Toma and Oguri Shun team up in Ouroboros, Sawamura Ikki’s Doctors is back for a third season, and Inoue Mao’s taiga drama Hana Moyu premieres. Rare romance dramas in the line up are represented this season by DATE and Second Love.

Yabushita Yoriko (Anne), is a 29-year-old economics expert who holds a Masters degree from University of Tokyo. She works in the field of macroeconomics research, at a Yokohama research laboratory. She is rigid and is not very sociable. She wants to get married next and have a baby by 30 as everyone around her did including her late mother. So, she registers at a marriage agency in order to find a partner. If she finds a man who fills 24 items listed on her ideal husband list, she will marry him. On the other hand, Taniguchi Takumi (Hasegawa Hiroki) is a jobless man named absorbed in the world of literature, arts, and music. He depends on his mother but knows that when she passes away, he can’t continue his current lifestyle. He decides to register at the same marriage agency as Yoriko in order to find a rich woman who can support him financially. Yoriko and Taniguchi start dating in view of marriage as a mere contract.

Tono Risa (Nakatani Miki) is a popular novelist in her 30’s. She’s highly respected but she worries that her talents have been exhausted and asks her assistant Kawahara Yuki (Mizukawa Asami) to be her ghost writer in order to get over the crisis. Yuki, is a young woman in her 20s who has come to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a novelist. Risa gets distressed about the situation and the talented Yuki finds the admiration she should have for Risa gradually transform into bitter animosity. Oda Hayato (Miura Shohei), a rookie editor, is the first person to discover Yuki’s talent, and become the one who understands her the most. He struggles in his attempt to make Yuki stop being Risa’s ghost writer and debut as an novelist.

Shiraishi Tomio (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi) is a foreign capital affiliate, who hit rock bottom after his father became a guarantor of a debt. His father committed suicide after being constantly harassed by loan sharks and made him lose everything that made him break up with his fiance, Aoike Kazue (Kimura Fumino). He loses everything, his money, job, fiancee and he becomes homeless. Since the loan shark trade drove him to the bottom, he decided that all things lost because of money will be also be recovered using money and became a loan shark himself. This he does by working for Akamatsu Daisuke (Watabe Atsuro) who runs Akamatsu Finance.
He meets Konno Mio (Oshima Yuko), the daughter of his debt-ridden high school teacher. She makes him realise before he is aware of it, that he has been obsessed with money, and special feelings start to blossom between the two of them. Furthermore, Tomio’s ex fiance, Kozue shows up again. The three soon develop a complex romantic relationship. Faced with the truth of his father’s death, Tomio plots a heroic revenge. But will he be able to regain all that he has lost?

Haruno Yoichi (Tamaki Hiroshi) is 35 years old and works at a housing company. He is seen as the perfect husband with his good looks, character and abilities and is on good terms with his wife Chisato (Kurashina Kana), 28 years old, who adores and respects him a lot. However, after the birth of their first child, her character and atitude towards him totally changed, finding fault with him about things which she could excuse prior to childbirth. Because of her hysterics, he starts to see her as a “monster wife”. He does not know the cause or solution to her behavior and becomes “downgraded” to a “disappointing husband” in her eyes.

The story takes place at a small restaurant located in a backstreet of the fashionable Omotesando area. The restaurant was started and ran by seven women who have once been labeled as “pathetic” and “failed.” They decide to come together and join forces and create a restaurant of their own in order to rise from the absolute lowest point in their lives and get back at those men who made their lives miserable. However, all these women all come with their own personal “baggage” and completely different personalities, which causes them to clash and have conflicts often. Consequently, their newly-founded restaurant encounters many problems and various challenges but they are not about to give up that easily… because these ladies are very tough and extremely determined to prove those who underestimated them wrong. Will they be able to make their restaurant a success and achieve what they set out to achieve?

Haruna Tsubame (Hirose Suzu) is an ordinary girl who is forced to become the president of the student council. He meets genius speechwriter Shizukui Satoshi (Kamiki Ryunosuke), also known as the “Magician”. She does not know much about him or whether he is an ally or enemy but his encounter with him leads to a revolution in school. He imparts speech techniques to her as a weapon in her struggle to change a school full of irrationality and dissatisfaction.

Hikari will perform household chores to perfection for the sake of her husband, Kubota Masazumi. Her own life is only to support him. Kubota, a newscaster, takes pride in his popularity because of his outspoken remarks despite the conventions of sponsors and the television network. His behaviour mobilises public opinion and he wishes that he can change society with his words. Kubota owes his position as main newscaster on the news programme ‘News Life’ to the support of his wife of six years too. But why does Hikari devote herself completely to him? The certain characteristic that Kubota’s wife possesses is an enigma, and a shocking development awaits him.

Elementary school student Miko (Suzuki Rio) was born to a poor family. Made responsible for all the housework by her mother and siblings, she hopes to escape from the harsh reality. One day, Miko inserts a coin to play with ‘Onii-chan Gacha’, a vending machine which dispenses toys in plastic capsules. She turns the handle as she wishes for a kind brother. Her world undergoes a drastic change from that day on. Older brothers who are like fantasies, appear before her one after another. The older brother who always smiles, the handsome older brother, the older brother who looks a wee bit scary but always protects her … … Which brother will Miko choose?

Nagata Kazuo (Nishijima Hidetoshi) gets laid off from his job. His wife, Miyoko (Igawa Haruka), asks for a divorce. His son, Hiroki (Yokoyama Kota), commits domestic violence. Kazuo also experiences troubles with his father, Tadao (Kagawa Teruyuki), who is suffering from terminal cancer. Kazuo sits on the bench infront of the train station pondering about his problems. Suddenly, a wine-colored wagon appears. The driver is Hashimoto Yoshiaki (Yoshioka Hidetaka), who died 5 years ago. Yoshiaki’s son Kenta (Takagi Serai), also supposed to be dead, is with him. Kazuo gets on the wagon and has a look at all the important places in his past, learning what went wrong with relationship with his wife and son.

Assistant Inspector Sugiyama Shintaro (Tanihara Shosuke) is a compassionate detective at the Kichijoji Police Precinct who has solved many cases. Shintaro works with Nagamine Yu (Kaname Jun). In his personal life, Shintaro is married to Kaori (Sakai Miki) and has three children. Currently, his wife is hospitalized and his mother-in-law Yoshie (Takahashi Keiko) is displeased with him. Shintaro’s work as a detective was exemplary, but after his wife became ill his focus shifted to taking care of his family. Arrest ratings at his police station dropped because of this. Shintaro tries his best to balance work with taking care of his family, but he finds it difficult. His mother-in-law then declares to take custody of the children.

Arimura Akari (Horikita Maki) is a 25 year old nurse born in Funabashi, Chiba. She works as a nurse in the geriatric ward of a hospital in affiliation of her local nursing school. When she became a nurse, it was with the pure feeling of “I want to help people” and “I want to help the troubled people”. Four years after, in the face of meager salary and too much work, she would rather quit and get married as soon as possible. Then, she gets a chance to work at the exclusive Toh Hospital and get a makeover as a well-off young lady. The hospital attracts political and business leaders, entertainers, and intellectuals because of its exclusivity despite the expensive medical fees. However it is a hospital with novice doctors, nurses with problems of infidelity and drug addiction, and spoiled patients. The head nurse, also known as the overall director of the “White Inner Palace” is tough on Akari. Every day, she is hit with many difficulties. In addition, what happens at the hospital absolutely cannot be revealed outside, definitely like the inner palace.

ONNA KUDOKI MESHI

Air Date:

1:15 am, Wednesdays, 28 January 2015

Cast:

Kanjiya Shihori

Sypnopsis:

Kanbayashi Megumi (Kanjiya Shihori) is a freelance writer who has not had a boyfriend in five years. She will turn 30 in three months and starts to panic about marriage. One day, she is brought a proposal by a magazine editor whom she is on friendly terms with. It is a proposal about “trying to be hit on while eating” at restaurants suggested by single male candidates. Megumi spends the majority of her fees on eating out alone and has vast knowledge regarding restaurants. Thinking that she will not only be able to eat delicious meals for free, but also have a chance to meet men, Megumi readily agrees. If a man catches her fancy, she can even let herself be won over. Megumi begins to recruit men for the rather offensive sounding title, “Pick-up meals ~ Take me to a meal!”

Nishida Rika (Tanaka Rena) is a 34-year-old OL who is betrayed by her married lover, Kashiwagi Sota (Murakami Hiroaki), a managing director of a large company. The betrayal is orchestrated by his wife Mitsuko (Wakamura Mayumi). As a result, Rika vows to take revenge on her. She finds out that Mitsuko is emotionally reliant on a young businessman Ochiai Keiichi (Aoyagi Sho), also the younger brother of Kashiwagi’s good friend. Rika meets Sho through an arranged meeting session. She decides to steal his heart and starts to date him with a view to marriage.

Ryuzaki Ikuo (Ikuta Toma) and Danno Tatsuya (Oguri Shun) are orphans who grew up at Mahoroba no Ie, an orphanage house. During elementary, they witness Kashiwaba Yuiko (Hirosue Ryoko), an orphanage staff who took care of them like an older sister, killed right in front of them. They gave statements to the police but the case was covered up and their statements supressed by a police officer wearing a gold watch. 15 years later, Ikuo now works as a detective. He is a good person and his arrest rate is the highest at the police station. Meanwhile, using his handsome appearance and cleverness, Tatsuya becomes a high ranking yakuza.
Detective Ikuo and Yakuza Tatsuya have a singular purpose, which is to find the man wearing the gold watch, dig out the truth and reveal the dark side of the police organization.

After an ownership change, a local newspaper changes names to the Kyoto Times. The newspaper’s policy also undergoes a change to focus on increasing readership. Kurogane Shinobu (Mizuki Arisa) is a roving reporter for the Local News Section of the Kyoto Times. She has written several in-depth investigative articles which won awards. She has a difficult personality and when she works on an article, she is unafraid of anything or anyone. When a story breaks, she will rush to the location regardless of where it is. Due to this tendency, there are now places that are off-limits to her. Shinobu Kurogane is also a divorced single mother. She loves her son, but is poor at expressing herlove.

Dogami Tamaki (Nogiwa Yoko), the director of Dogami General Hospital, entrusts her nephew, Moriyama Suguru (Takashima Masanobu), with the role of acting director and sets off to travel around the world on a luxury liner. Unaccustomed to the work of the director, Moriyama flounders and yet continues to behave outrageously within the hospital.

Taira Kei (Kamenashi Kazuya) is a young man who dreams of being a contemporary dancer while being earnestly in love with an older woman. Kei has a talent for contemporary dance since he was young and went to study in Germany to join a dance company in his teens. He has won several international competitions and was referred to as a “prodigy”. However, he encountered a setback in the middle and got frustrated. He returned to Tokyo and takes a part-time work while he tries to re-capture his dream.Nishihara Yui (Fukada Kyoko) is a Chemisty teacher in her 30s, working at a prestigious high school. Even while continuing a love affair with a married colleague, she was still lonely until she meets Kei and gets swallowed in passion.

The story takes place in 1920 where Masaharu Kameyama, or Massan for short, has just returned to Japan after spending a two year apprenticeship in Scotland. With him he brings back a Scottish wife, Ellie. While studying zymurgy (process of fermentation) in Osaka, Massan discovered whiskey and became fascinated with it. This lead him to travel to Scotland alone where he took part in a two year apprenticeship, his goal being to achieve domestic whiskey production in Japan.Massan and Ellie face a tough road ahead of them. Ellie’s family isn’t pleased that she ran off to a “strange land” and Massan’s mother is extremely disgruntled that he brought home a foreign bride. Ellie also receives a cold reception from the local people, not fully adapting to cultural differences and often being misunderstood. Massan repeatedly faces failure with his whiskey production and global events such as the Great Depression and Pacific War (where Ellie’s home country is the enemy) continuously put the odds against them.Despite those hardships Massan continues to follow his dream with Ellie by his side.

It was the year 14 of the Tempo era (1843), a little girl was born into the Sugi family. Named Fumi (Inoue Mao), she is the 4th daughter in the family, also the younger sister of Bakumatsu-era Choshu Domain philosopher Yoshida Shoin (Iseya Yusuke) She went on to marry Katori Motohiko, becoming his second wife after her elder sister, Ju. Fumi also married Kusaka Genzui (Higashide Masahiro) a key person in the Sonno Joi faction in the Choshu Domain. However, Kusaka later passed away so Fumi remarried Katori Motohiko, the first mayor of Gunma Prefecture.

A small village in the Kanto region surrounded by mountains is on the verge of being wiped out after the merger of municipalities.
When Masato Ouchi (Sorimachi Takashi) was in his 20’s, he failed with his organic farming business and accrued heavy debt. Ultimately, Masato ran away to Tokyo, leaving his parents and daughter Miho (Matsuoka Mayu) behind.13 years later, Masato’s father Kazuo (Igawa Hisashi) dies. Miho decides to inherit a field from her grandfather and his farm. To help Miho and his mother Yayoi, Masato goes back to his hometown village.
However, a mysterious management consultant Takigawa Yu (Tanihara Shosuke), who plans to revitalise farming by using all possible means, appeared before them.

Takeuchi Miharu (Maya Miki) is a capable lawyer with a law firm in Nagoya who gets to handle a divorce case assigned by their head Mizuno Toyohiko (Tachi Hiroshi). Gohara Naoki (Yoshizawa Hisashi), the president of the company, wants to divorce his wife Nobue (Kone Hana) who left their 5-year-old son behind and moved out. Nobue does not want to give up her child. The case seems to complicate Miharu because she had experienced divorce too and was deprived of custody of her daughter Kanae, who she has not seen in 10 years. She hesitantly starts working on the case but gradually gets absorbed in it.
While she is the husband’s attorney, the solution she offers reflects Nobue’s feelings. This offends the client company and the law firm’s advisory contract is terminated. She resigned.
Nobue arrives with the twin sisters. She believes they can count on Miharu who identified with her own divorce issues. Miharu does all in her power to try to pull the twins’ broken family together. She got convinced to start a divorce counselling centre. On the day of the opening of ‘Takeuchi Harumi Divorce Counselling Centre’, a young lady stares at the signboard of the centre with a surly expression. She is Miharu’s daughter, Kanae (Taketomi Seika), who is now an adult.

Kusakabe Gengo, of the Tsukigase domain in Western Japan, is handed an order to execute the chief retainer, Matsuura Shogen. Kusakabe and Matsuura are childhood friends and also went to the same kendo training school. They were once bound by a firm friendship, but took different paths and fell out as a result of some incident. The rumours are that Shogen has incurred displeasure because he is hindering the rise of the lord of the domain. However, he is known to the public as an artist so it would look bad if he were publicly executed. Gengo, who has been ordered to handle it as a fight due to a personal grudge, searches for the place for Shogen to die. He decides to visit Shogen for the first time in 20 years. When the paths of the two men cross again as they approach old age, fate starts moving again … …

Mikoshiba Reiji (Mikami Hiroshi) is an invincible lawyer who is described as one who would certainly fight to win a suspended sentence no matter what the charges are. As a result, his fees are also exorbitant. Because the clientele that comes to him are also unscrupulous, he is even shunned by those around him for being a crass lawyer. Mikoshiba volunteers to be the court-appointed defence lawyer in the trial of a murder for insurance money. The cards are overwhelmingly stacked against the defendant, Mitsuko (Toyota Maho). In the midst of this, a drowned body is discovered in a riverbed within Saitama Prefecture and Watase (Lily Franky) of the prefectural police embarks on the investigation. Then he discovers that the victim, a freelance journalist, had been snooping around Mikoshiba just before death. As the investigation progresses, Watase gets to Mikoshiba’s past. He is the real culprit in the murder of a little girl. Why did a murderer become a lawyer? What is his objective?

GARASU NO ASHI
(Reed of Glass)

Air Date:

10 pm, Saturdays, 21 February 2015

Cast:

Aibu Saki

Sypnopsis:

Koda Setsuko (Aibu Saki) is married to Kiichiro who runs a hotel. There is a large age difference between them. Her hobby is to write poems. She published her own poem collection “Garasu no Ashi” upon her husband’s suggestion. One afternoon, when Koda is lying in bed with her lover Masahiro Sawaki, she receives a call from the police informing her that her husband was in a car accident. At the hospital, the doctor informs her that Kiichiro has severe brain damage and won’t live much longer. At this time, Setsuko Koda’s mother, Fujishima Ritsuko, arrives. Actually, her mother was once Kiichiro’s mistress. Her mother was also abusive to Setsuko Koda when she was a child. Due to this, Kudo destests her.

A major newspaper has informally decided to employ a female university student, Asakura Hiroko (Kadowaki Mugi). However, shock ripples within the newspaper because of a weekly magazine’s scoop that she is the daughter of the criminal in a serious case. This was the kidnapping of a newborn baby at a big hospital 20 years ago. The criminal demanded a ransom from the director of the hospital instead of the parents. But after the criminal had the large sum of money in hand, he died in an accident while being pursued by the police. The baby was never found. Kaji Hidekazu (Watabe Atsuro) a former hotshot journalist who has become deadwood in the wake of an incident, is ordered by the newspaper to re-investigate the kidnapping case. He finds out the shocking, tragic truth which had been kept under wraps.

TV TOKYO

TAIKOMOCHI NO TATSUJIN ~ Tadashii XX no Homekata

Air Date:

11:58 pm, Mondays, 12 January 2015

Cast:

Tezuka Toru, Emoto Tokio, Kinami Haruka

Sypnopsis:

Yowatari Wars is the ultimate online simulation game. It helps people with trouble communicating through the positive weapon of “praise words”. Three characters who call themselves Captain Stallone (Tezuka Toru), Strategist Mike (Emoto Tokio) and Data Analyst Risa (Kinami Haruka) appear in the game. Masters at flattery, they impart wisdom to the troubled, expertly compliment adversaries (business negotiators and personal acquaintances) who are hard to deal with and overcome difficulties. However, another drama lies behind these three flatterers..

Keshizaki Natsumi (Aso Kumiko), Akiko (Sakai Maki) and Fuyu (Ogawa Tamaki) are close sisters. Natsumi (Aso Kumiko) is 36 years old. She dreams of becoming a cafe owner and saved money to achieve this, but she was swindled out of her money. She now works at the cafe where she dreamed of becoming the owner. Akiko (Maki Sakai) is 39. She works as a part time high school music teacher and awaits for the perfect man. Fuyu (Tamaki Ogawa) is 38, and thinks of herself as an actress. She strives at a part-time job every day but she quarrels with her boss and gets sacked. Prone to unfortunate occurences, these three sisters are caught in all sorts of bizarre incidents.

Morimura Tomomi (Suzuki Kyoko) is a housewife scorned by her husband (Sugimoto Tetta) and two sons (Hamada Tatsuomi, Maeda Goki), and yet she continues to protect the family. On her 46th birthday, she leaves home in disgust and embarks on a 1,200 km journey. It is Tomomi’s first time driving onto the highway and she speeds along to the west. On the road, she encounters a series of traumatising episodes. She detects her husband’s affair, is faced with a truck driver who mistakes her for a prostitute housewife, and finally her car gets stolen. While Tomomi is at a loss, a good-looking young man and an elderly person give her a ride, and she arrives in Nagasaki. As she meets various people in this town which was once transformed into a wasteland because of the atomic bomb, she becomes aware of a “wilderness” within her and starts to explore the path to rebirth …

TOHO NANAHUN

Air Date:

11:15 pm, Tuesdays, 6 January 2015

Cast:

Tanaka Rena, Tanaka Kei, Fukushi Seiji, Nahana, Ishino Mako

Sypnopsis:

32-year-old Kurosaki Yoriko (Tanaka Rena) has no man, no friends and no job. She starts to live alone for the first time and comes in touch with a new world. This is the story of the small incidents that occur within a 7-minute walking distance from her apartment.

Iron Grandmas are special investigators. The two of them used to be special investigators with the codename “Sugar & Salt” and they were responsible for diplomatic espionage behind the scenes. Their last assignment was more than 20 years ago. The two of them team up again to take on new battles.